Rethinking online safety for young people
As a trusted technical advisor to government, InternetNZ has submitted formal evidence to the Education and Workforce Committee’s inquiry into the online harms affecting young people in Aotearoa.
Our submission outlines how potential reactive approaches — like broad content bans or biometric age verification — fail to address the root of the problem: the architectural design of online platforms.
Understanding the real harms
Our analysis, developed in partnership with technical community members, focuses on systemic online harms built into digital platforms. These include:
- Neurological exploitation through addictive, reward-based algorithmic design
- Predatory real-time behavioural data extraction, often described as consent
- Deliberate suppression of independent research, using legal and technical barriers
These harms aren’t caused by bad actors alone. Digital platforms embed these harms in the business models and technical systems.
Our recommendations
We advocate for a shift away from blunt, privacy-invasive solutions and toward principled, technically informed regulation that reflects the lived realities of young people in Aotearoa New Zealand. This approach also means upholding the data sovereignty of our rangatahi Māori and ensuring respect for their rights and cultural values in the digital environment.
Specifically, we recommend:
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Establishing an independent digital regulator with community, Māori, legal and technical advisory representation, and real-time audit capabilities — not just annual reporting.
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Legislating strong data erasure rights, including public compliance reporting, aligned with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) style standards.
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Prohibiting exploitative design features for minors by default — such as randomised notification loops and deceptive engagement prompts.
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Developing whānau-controlled tools, including culturally appropriate, privacy-respecting approaches to online safety and content filtering.
Regulation that’s fit for purpose
Our policy team prepared this submission separately from our .nz domain regulatory function. As kaitiaki (guardians) of the .nz domain, we strongly urge the government — not private platforms — to lead a coordinated, transparent and technically literate response.
Effective regulation must:
- Tackle harms at the architectural level, not just the surface.
- Avoid disproportionate, exclusionary measures like biometric age verification.
- Honour Māori data sovereignty and community-led safety solutions
- Keep pace with fast-evolving technology through dynamic, agile frameworks.
A call to action
To protect our young people in Aotearoa, regulators must ground their approach in technical fluency, human rights, and cultural responsiveness — not outdated or imported templates. We proudly contribute this evidence as part of our ongoing role in shaping robust public policy.
Questions or whakaaro? Contact our policy team at policy@internetnz.net.nz